So much for voodoo economics:
Government spending as a share of the economy would fall to 18.3 percent in 2001, which is down from 18.7 percent in 2000 and the lowest figure since 1966,
dailynews.yahoo.com
The Republican mantra in the 1980?s was to cut government and they seem stuck on those dying themes. Rush is fighting a brave re guard action but is outnumbered and surrounded. . They never did reduce the size of the federal government as a percentage of GNP. This simple fact ( that voodoo doesn't work ) and a real surplus over and above the social security extra money shows the importance of rational management. rather than slogans and simply wrong but popular ideas.
President Bush tax and budget agreement ( which cost him the election ) and Clifton's deal a few years latter ( which cost a number of members their seats ) -
cut costs by setting real limits, raised income and was key to our current success.
Clifton's budget projects the Social Security system will generate $2.2 trillion in surpluses over the next 10 years, and the rest of the budget will generate $746 billion in surpluses.
No good budget deed goes unpunished
A different stump speech
Health care for all Americans is no big deal. Almost, every other industrial society has some sort of plan that covers everyone - insurance from work, insurance from unemployment, insurance from retirement, and a safety net of local, state and federal programs for the rest. That was the plan developed in Germany over a century ago - a blend of federal, state and local services and support. There has
to be a budget and cost constraints - since you can?t pay for everything for everyone.
Managed care is the way we have chosen to set those constrains. Public subsidy of those who need it to pay for basic insurance is the way to get universal coverage. Free clinics is another because of the complex paper work can take up to 20% of the health dollar - more than drugs and often more than doctors fees.
Prepaid plans such as Kaiser are a lot more cost effective. Many HMO are not for real but are varieties of preferred providers insurance schemes which are a much more complex conflict prone system.
A international standard of education is no big deal. ( except the schools will have to actually learn to do their job of teaching ) Every other progressive country has
clear performance standards. If a child is having trouble they get extra help, goes to summer school or tutoring, but is not passed on to frustration and failure in
higher grades. An college worth anything doesn't accept students who can?t do the work. ( except if they play sports ) You don?t hire someone who can?t do the job. It is no favor to anyone to put them is a clear situation where they will most certainly fail.
Hand guns should be controlled - of course - political pork limited by removing items not cleared by the substance and appropriations committees - social security put on a sound footing - etc.
These simple, prudent and rational steps can not be done in this country because of money in politics.
You have to work on both the supply and demand side. What can be done to reduce the need for money in getting elected. What can be done to reduce the control of benefits or reduce special favors - What can be done to reduce the power of individual members to those grant favors. Otherwise of real structural reform, public finance with spending limits and free television will help but not much. Money will take the form "independent committees and issue committees".
Doing away with much of the tax code ( largely ) and replacing it with a VAT would take a lot of special interests money off the table. And VAT would help the
economy and help in international competition. Party discipline of committee chairmen and members so they can?t sell to the highest bidder. In fact committee members should not take any money from their area of jurisdiction.
America's government is a fossilized colossus, so hung about with lobbyists and special interests (read: interests of ordinary Americans) that it is well-nigh unchangeable, except at the edges. It is a bold or na‹ve man (Bill Bradley, John McCain) who suggests reforms to any of the larger workings of government. And even these men stop at one issue each, health care and campaign finance
respectively.
This tenderness for root-and-branch surgery is a result of two debacles in which Mr. Clinton starred. The first was the loss of his dream, health-care reform, in 1993: a reform that was just too big, and against which every special interest in Washington eventually took up arms.
The lesson drawn from this was that it was better to think smaller. And after the Democrats? election drubbing of 1994, the lesson was underlined: the president was forced to think very small indeed.
wiredbrain.com
Mr. Clinton?s proposals since then have mostly been for poll-tested micro-initiatives that even Republicans would like: parental leave, school uniforms,
a ratings system for videotapes. The key word is "incremental". Forget the contentious, large-scale stuff: promise lots of little things that may actually get
done, and make sure they come with a photo-opportunity attached. Mr. Bush half-endorses this technique; Mr. Gore proclaims it wholeheartedly. He has learned from hard experience, and he has also learned at the feet of the master.
economist.com
wiredbrain.com
wiredbrain.com
If an elected official takes $1000.00 bills in a envelope left on his desk it is bribery and illegal. If he submits bills that have the sole and only purpose of shaking down some individuals industry it?s politics as usual. If he takes the $1000.00 as a reported campaign contribution is politics as usual. If he takes the money to add some provision to a bill that gives the donor special privileges,
business or advantages it is politics as usual.
The elected official then takes these ill-gotten gains hires a professional political consultants, who hires media people, PR people, strategists and gets re-elected.
As long as he is not caught doing something unusual or especially nasty the game goes on as usual. The $1,000 have become millions and the people in office have all the tools they need to stay there. Any change in the system will threaten incumbents and they don?t want that - and will find as good excuses as they can to stop it.
Corrupt political systems can?t reform themselves. Local political machines that lived on patronage, kick backs, contract rigging, and other money making enterprises were only reformed by reformers form outside and great national
movements. The other party ( that was closed out by the system ) gain control of the suburbs, state legislatures, and national assemblies. Some machines and southern rural bosses never the less continue to this day only slightly constrained by the law.
So how do we escape from the "history trap" being tied down by the actions and inaction of our predecessors. As the federal government had to deal with the corruption, racism, and incompetence at the local level - the states have to deal with the failure of the national government. Only the states have the power of reform because it will take a restructuring of the electoral system and congress will
not reform itself. It will take the states to call a convention to rewrite the electoral process ( leaving the bill of rights alone ) .
Otherwise public finance with spending limits and free television will help but not much. Doing away with the tax code ( largely ) and replacing it with a VAT would
take a lot of special interests off the table. Party discipline of committee chairmen and members so they can sell to the highest bidder. In fact committee members
should not take any money from their area of jurisdiction .
His plan would use the entire Social Security surplus and half of the remaining surplus to repay the federal debt.
The president also would pour $432 billion over 10 years into the Medicare system. Some $299 billion of the anticipated budget surpluses over the period
would go to extending the financial health of the system to 2025.
His prescription drug plan would cost $160 billion over 10 years, and the president proposed a separate $35 billion program to cover`` catastrophic' drug costs for patients.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the non-Social Security surplus could reach $1.9 trillion over 10 years if spending were frozen --
thus giving Republicans more room for tax cuts than Clinton sees. But the White House has said a spending freeze is unrealistic.
--
Dr. Peter E. Pflaum, GlobalVillages
wiredbrain.com
pflaump@wiredbrain.com
P.O. Box 2176 New Smyrna Beach FL. 32170
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